from fresh to salt

[undertcontrolj]

I was looking for a bigger tank in the all in one category but am not having much luck finding one right now. So here is what i am looking at doing. I already have a 55 gallon fresh with a 10 gallon breeder. So how much would it cost me to get this tank turned into a salt tank. And can i do it for under 350. Just need some help and ideas so let the ideas flow

 

[undertcontrolj]

that price might be a little tight if i am going to get some really good lighting. So lets just try to keep it as close to that price as possible.

 

[gsusfreak]

i honestly think it'll cost just as much to setup a AIO tank...and $350 isnt much to work with.....unless of course, you plan on buying every used..then it should be possible

 

[undertcontrolj]

thats what i was thinking to. But i figured o would look here and see what other people suggested. I might be willing to set up my 55 gallon just cause it would take a while before i had to up grade. That is quite a bit larger than a 34 gallon cube.

 

[mikemartinez]

A 55 is a really good size to start off with.. But You need a good skimmer (problably an Octopus skimmer..More bang for your buck..) And depending on what you want to keep I would say PC Lights at the very least.. But I would try to go for the T5's if possible just to get the lights out of the way for good because it's gonna cost you alot more to go from PC to T5's or Halides later on.

 

[DMBillies]

AIO tanks are expensive for what you are generally getting (you're paying for the compact and pretty factor with them). I've seen nano modders drop more money on their hoods and chillers than I would sink into an entire 90 gallon set-up. Sure, their tanks are cool, but there's no substitute for size once you've been collecting corals for a while (people either inevitably go larger or get out of the hobby... I've even seen people sell of their stuff to go smaller and end up back in and bigger then ever).

On the 55 idea... I see a lot of people moving up from freshwater and making a 55 gallon their first SW tank (heck, that's what we did). I'm sure somebody will disagree with me, but I think 55 gallon tanks are about as ill suited to a reef tank as you can get. With only 12" front-to-back it becomes very hard to get any rock in the tank without taking up all of your swimming room. Cool looking aquascaping... practically a pipe dream. Circulation also becomes something of a problem because of how long and skinny the tanks are. Getting a proper overflow in the tank also presents a problem because almost all 55's are made from tempered glass all the way around and because an overflow will take up valuable space in the tank (a coast-to-coast would literally take up almost half of the tank opening). If you can live with a siphon overflow, you can probably get away with it, but they aren't cheap and I couldn't sleep well at night having one on my tank. In short, I think I'd honestly rather have a smaller cube tank.

...but if you already have the tank and you'll only have to sink a little bit more money into it, it might be worth it.

In any case, if you do something in a 55 gallon range, my advice would be to buy everything you can used and buy slightly overrated equipment so that you can move up to a 75 gallon or 90 gallon without re-buying (they have a much more favorable footprint for reef tanks and it will make a future upgrade much cheaper).

As you probably know I have a 90 and a 92 gallon for sale. I realize that even if I drop quite a bit off of those tanks you'll still end up over $350 in order to get everything you need up and running on them (aside from any equipment, you'd need rock, which ain't cheap). Just wanted to put that out there. Economic stimulus check

 

[undertcontrolj]

Yeah that economic stimulus check would barley get me started on this project. I already have a 12 gallon nano and am just considering the upgrade right now. I know that this is going to be expensive whether i go with an all in one or whether i turn this 55 into a salt. I do like the simplicity of the all in ones though. And i have looked at several of the new ones and they come with great lighting. Then like you said i would probably need a chiller which will be expensive too. Just tossing out ideas to see what i come up with. To bad AC is not going to be taking 25% of tanks at this next meeting I would just buy one then.

 

[NeveSSL]

I agree with Brian. I have a 45g tall which is also 12" of depth... its hard to work with. Very hard. I was able to drill my tank as it was a glass-cages tank (not tempered), but he has a great point about drilling it and having to use a siphon overflow.

It would be difficult to do it with $350, but possible IF you take your time and wait on the things you need. You could even save up a bit more and possibly buy a used setup for $450 or $500 or so.

In summary, you could possibly do it for $350, IF you take your time and seek out great deals.

Regardless, good luck! :thumbsup:

Brandon

 

[undertcontrolj]

yeah. i could probably buy one off craigslist too. I don't know what the ultimate decision is going to be. Still have those feelers out there though.

 

[NeveSSL]

Give it some time, man. Something will come up eventually. Especially between here and craigslist.

Brandon

 

[Siffy]

I'd definitely avoid a 12" wide tank for a reef if possible. It makes it hard to aquascape. I would also advise against PCs. They're outdated and inefficient. Basically, the best I can describe them is crap. I'd look for a used 65-90g tank. If you can find a used T5 retrofit in the for sale forum, now is a good time to buy replacement bulbs. Hellolights.com is having a week long sale on TRU brand bulbs. When looking for lighting go with SLR (Single Lamp Reflectors) and you will be able to get away with only a 2 bulb setup until you want to get into SPS/any higher light demanding inhabitants.

There's nothing wrong with using the 55 now to wait for finding a deal though. I'd just strongly suggest getting good lighting the first time around. I, like most, started with PCs then upgraded to MH w/VHO and kicked myself for the money wasted. I bought "used" live rock from a reefer shutting down a large tank. There was a store in Birmingham shutting down last week that sold all their live rock for $3/lb.

It's possible to setup a tank for $350 but that really is a tight budget for one. The small things will add up faster than you realize. Test kits, PVC, small pumps for misc tasks, surge protectors even, buckets, etc. A lot of people will downright lie about what they've spent on their tanks, and I think it's mainly that they don't want to admit it to themselves. I spent $4-5k on a 29g in the first 6 months when I first got started. And a lot of that was mistakes where I went "cheap" the first time I bought something and then had to do it right when I wasn't satisfied or it just didn't work like advertised.

 

[gsusfreak]

same here siffy....i think ive spent more when i first started with my 20 gallon

 

[DMBillies]

I started telling a friend that wanted to get into the hobby everything he'd need to get a tank running well/right the first time (starting from nothing) and how much it would really cost. By the time I got done making my list I had: 1) talked him into starting with a real small nano; 2) realized how crazy I was.

 

[undertcontrolj]

Well i really did not think that it would be as addictive as it has turned out to be. So that is why i started with a 12 gallon nano. And now i am looking and all i can think is this would be a great frag tank and thats about it. Plus i have an addictive personality so I tend to go big or go home. Maybe we should start a reefers AA or something. But I really dont want to stop. LOL

 

[NeveSSL]

Its definitely addictive, man.

Honestly, you should probably save up and go with as big of a tank as you can. If thats a 55, then go for it. If you can swing a 180 or 240, go for it.

This will keep your expenses down (from upgrading every year... ) and just help ya get what you want, which we all want bigger tanks!

Brandon

 

[undertcontrolj]

That would be the smart thing to do . But just like you i am just a poor MTSU student trying to get by. One day, hopefully soon, i will be able to just have a room dedicated to the tanks that I love. I mean i knew this was going to be bad when I already had 3 fresh water cichlid tanks.. I knew then i was going to have an aquarium addiction. Maybe addiction implies the wrong thing. Passion, thats it.